Análisis preliminar de los niveles de Interleucina 18 como Posible marcador y predictor de daño epidérmico en pacientes con pénfigo vulgar

Abstract

Introduction. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a chronic mucocutaneous bullous disease of unknown origin, sometimes related to steroids response, the main treatment, and so can be a cause of a 15-20% mortality in countries that don’t have adequate facilities to treat this kind of disease. IL-18 is a cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of PV concerning about apoptosis (a cause of acantholisis), and about autoantibodies (that also induces acantholisis, a major step in PV). We propose the use of IL-18 as a marker and predictor of mucocutaneous severity in PV. Objective. To evaluate the potential of plasmatic levels of IL-18 as a marker and predictor of epidermal damage in patients with PV. Methodology. We perform a longitudinal, prospective, analytic and observational study. We determined the plasmatic concentrations of IL-18 by means of ELISA. Results were correlated performing a Pearson’s correlate test. Results. We analyze plasma samples of 33 patients with PV and of 15 healthy subjects, with significant differences. We found correlation between IL-18 and disease activity. Conclusions. IL-18 concentrations in PV were more elevated that in healthy subjects and had correlation with disease activity.